Prosecutors allege Ryan was continuous criminal

Federal prosecutors intend to present evidence that former Gov. George Ryan engaged in "continuous criminal conduct" from at least the late 1980s, according to court filings released Thursday.

Prosecutors noted in one filing that they sent Ryan's defense attorneys a letter regarding information they obtained from his onetime top aide, Scott Fawell.

"Fawell maintains that, while employed at [then-Lt. Gov. Ryan's] Office, he was performing exclusively partisan political functions and did not even show up at the Lieutenant Governor's Office," Assistant U.S. Atty. Laurie Barsella wrote.

Fawell was convicted in March 2003 of a wide-ranging corruption scheme to divert public funds to partisan ends. He is expected to be the prosecution's star witness in Ryan's coming fraud trial.

In the same court filing, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer to allow them to present evidence regarding a state contract won by Ryan's brother, Thomas.

Ryan's attorneys objected to the evidence, which prosecutors said will show Ryan had his staff at the secretary of state's office arrange for preferential treatment for his brother's business, Comguard.

Comguard contracted with the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide home detention monitoring for convicts.

Brad Lerman, an attorney for Ryan, declined to comment on the filing, saying that Ryan's defense team will respond in court.

In other filings, prosecutors requested Pallmeyer limit Ryan from arguing that he didn't receive any direct benefit from the alleged governmental fraud.

They also sought to prevent defense attorneys from eliciting legal opinions from non-expert witnesses.